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One-on-One with…Secretary Janet Napolitano

To counter the threat of terrorism, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Secretary, Janet Napolitano, has forged new partnerships and expanded information
sharing with federal, state and local law enforcement - building a collaborative effort
to detect and disrupt threats early on. Secretary Napolitano recently spoke with
Dispatch Associate Editor Amy Schapiro, about the nexus between community
policing and homeland security.

CP Dispatch: What nexus do you see between community policing and homeland
security?

Secretary Napolitano: Let me start by saying that our ability to protect the homeland
from terrorism and other threats in large part depends on the ability of state, local, county
and tribal law enforcement to protect local communities. The Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) works directly with local law enforcement to fight violent crime, to
provide training, funding, and threat-related intelligence directly to state, local, tribal, and
territory police departments. One of the major portals through which we do this is the
fusion centers. We have 72 fusion centers throughout the country. We are looking to add
capacity in existing fusion centers, and, possibly add more fusion centers to the network.
There is a direct connection between our statutory responsibilities and our interaction
with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, who, afterall, have many resources and more
pairs of eyes than we do.

CP Dispatch: Can you tell us more about fusion centers?

Secretary Napolitano: Fusion centers are a one-stop-shop, where you have colocated
federal, state, and local sworn officers, where you have access to a myriad of different
types of databases, and where we have the opportunity and ability to provide information
at different levels of classification. Once they receive information from Federal
authorities, personnel within these centers blend it with other information and analyze it
so they can fully to come to understand what the local implications of a specific threat.
Fusion centers should be able to share this knowledge with other state, local and tribal
law enforcement entities thereby enabling information-driven policing strategies. Fusion
centers are the centerpiece of state and local information-gathering and sharing for us
across the country.

CP Dispatch: How can agencies learn about funding through DHS?

Secretary Napolitano: FEMA administers 99 percent of the grant funds we have, in terms
of law enforcement grants. We have peer groups and evaluators that help make sure law
enforcement and security grants go out to where they are needed. For more information
visit: www.dhs.gov/xgovt/grants/index.shtm.

CP Dispatch: In the wake of the Christmas bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, what is
DHS doing to address domestic radicalization and violent extremism?

Secretary Napolitano: With respect to the increase in domestic violent extremism, or
home-based radicalization, one of the main things we do is provide intelligence and
training. We are sharing information about threats that we are perceiving and receiving
about potential violent activity. The focus needs to be at the local law enforcement level;
that’s where we need to provide better training to our law enforcement colleagues. It’s
important to ensure that officers are able to recognize behaviors and indicators associated
with a specific threat and better distinguish between criminal activity and legal behavior.
Community oriented, information-driven efforts by state, local and tribal law
enforcement is one of the best ways to prevent violent crime–including crime motivated
by extreme ideological beliefs. DHS is looking to expand its support for local community
oriented policing efforts across the Nation so that these local efforts can incorporate
efforts to prevent violent crime motivated by ideological beliefs into pre-existing,
community-oriented violent crime reduction. On February. 3, I directed the Homeland
Security Advisory Council to work with state and local law enforcement as well as
relevant community groups to develop and provide to me recommendations regarding
how the Department can better support community-based efforts to combat violent
extremism domestically—focusing in particular on the issues of training, information
sharing, and the adoption of community oriented law enforcement approaches to this
issue.

CP Dispatch: How has serving in state level government benefited you in your current
position?

Secretary Napolitano: As a former U.S. Attorney, Attorney General, and Governor for
Arizona, I bring a state and local perspective and appreciation for state and local
agencies. They add a crucial aspect to the security of this country and I want to ensure
that those partnerships are robust and value added for them. We are all in this together.

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Janet Napolitano is the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and
is leading our nation's collective efforts to secure our country from the threats we
face—from terrorism to natural disasters. Prior to becoming Secretary, Napolitano
was in her second term as Governor of Arizona and was recognized as a national
leader on homeland security, border security and immigration. She was the first
woman to chair the National Governors Association and was named one of the top
five governors in the country by TIME magazine. Napolitano was also the first female
Attorney General of Arizona and served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.
She graduated from Santa Clara University, where she won a Truman Scholarship
and was the university's first female valedictorian, and received her Juris Doctor
from the University of Virginia School of Law. Before entering public office,
Napolitano served as a clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder on the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced law in Phoenix at the firm of Lewis and
Roca.